While the Georgia runoff still awaits, as of the writing of this article, Democrats have defied political history and maintained their razor-thin Senate majority past the midterm elections. With the loss of the House, Democrats are unlikely to pass transformative legislation in the next two years, freeing the Senate to prioritize nominations (where the House has no role). Court watchers will likely welcome this, as, despite historic successes with their razor-thin majority, the Biden Administration has little time to rest if it intends to fill a sizeable proportion of the 100+ lower court vacancies currently pending in the federal judiciary. Currently, there are sixteen circuit court vacancies and ninety-seven district court vacancies pending (including seats announced to be vacated but currently still full). In comparison, 56 judicial nominees are currently before the senate, twelve to circuit courts and 44 to district courts. As the Biden Administration and Senate Democrats turn to nominations and confirmations, it’s useful to look again at the current landscape.
As a reminder, the process for choosing circuit and district court nominees is fairly different. After the practice of requiring blue slips for appellate nominees was terminated during the Trump Administration, the Administration is under no obligation to secure pre-approval from home state senators before the nominee can receive a hearing. However, in practice, the Administration is still incentivized to consult with home state senators, which can slow down the nomination process, particularly in states with Republican senators.
Unlike circuit court vacancies, district court seats still require home state approval in order to be confirmed. This means that the ball is largely in the senators’ court in terms of naming nominees. This doesn’t mean that the Administration is completely absent from the process. It is still responsible for prodding senators, negotiating agreements, and choosing the right candidate. In fact, the Administration started right off the gate with an announcement that it expected recommendations for vacancies within 90 days of the announcement. This makes it all the more surprising the sheer number of district court seats that sit without nominees today.
This split is less surprising in states that only have Republican Senators, a group which includes thirty-five district court vacancies without nominees: six in Florida; five in Texas; three in Indiana and Louisiana; two each in Alabama, Missouri and Oklahoma; and one each in Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, and Wyoming. Many of the home state senators in these states have been fairly open about their unwillingness to work with the Administration on a nominee. However, others have been more willing to be involved, with Iowa senators, for example, recommending U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Locher, a young Democrat, to the bench (Locher was swiftly and unanimously confirmed). The lone district court nominee in a 2-Republican state is also the most recent, Scott Colom in Mississippi.
Similarly, in states with split delegations, the White House understandably needs to move with the support of home state Republican senators. It has had mixed luck in the states it has tried this with. Ohio Sen. Rob Portman returned blue slips for three nominees who were confirmed (one more remains pending). Similarly, the White House was able to reach a four nominee deal with Sen. Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania that included a nominee of his choice. In contrast, Sen. Ron Johnson has chosen to block a nominee that he previously signed off on.
Perhaps the most surprising in terms of vacancies without nominees are blue states or territories, where Democratic senators would presumably be incentivized to send recommendations quickly: yet, sixteen district court vacancies from blue states are nomineeless today, including four from California, three from New Jersey, two each from Connecticut, Illinois, and Michigan, and one each from Colorado, Maryland, and New York. A summary of this landscape follows:
D.C. Circuit – 1 vacancy out of 11 judgeships (one nominee pending)
The so-called “second highest court in the land”, the D.C. Circuit was the site of Biden’s first appointee when Jackson was confirmed to the court last June, a mere two months after her nomination. However, since that haste, a second vacancy languished for more than a year, taking nearly nine months after Judge David Tatel announced his departure from active status before Judge Michelle Childs was nominated, and taking Childs eight months to be confirmed. Jackson’s elevation to the Supreme Court reopened another vacancy, and the White House moved more quickly, elevating U.S. District Judge Florence Pan (confirmed in September). A fourth nominee, Brad Garcia remains pending on the Senate floor to fill the last remaining vacancy on the court, vacated by Judge Judith Ann Wilson Rogers.
The only district court that reports to the D.C. Circuit is the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The 15-judgeship court has one current vacancy, from Pan’s elevation, and one future vacancy, with Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly taking senior status upon confirmation of a successor. Nominees are pending for both vacancies with Ana Reyes currently awaiting a floor vote and Judge Todd Edelman having received a Judiciary Committee hearing last week.
First Circuit – 2 vacancies out of 6 judgeships (one nominee pending)
The smallest court of appeals in the country was also the sole geographically-based court not to see a single Trump appointment. Biden has already named Judge Gustavo Gelpi and Public Defender Lara Montecalvo to the court. Additionally, reproductive rights attorney Julie Rikelman is pending a vote before the Senate Judiciary Committee to replace Judge Sandra Lynch. The final seat, based in New Hampshire, was vacated by Judge Jeffrey Howard nearly nine months ago, and lacks a nominee. Given that New Hampshire has two Democratic senators, the lack of a nominee is puzzling.
The district courts covered by the First Circuit have five pending judicial vacancies, all of which have nominees. The District of Massachusetts has three current vacancies and three nominees pending, two of whom already have hearings.
The District Court for the District of Puerto Rico is down two judges, with nominees to fill the seats already on the Senate floor. A final Senate vote on Judge Camille Velez-Rive is expected next week, which should leave Judge Gina Mendez-Miro as the sole pending P.R. nominee.
Second Circuit – 1 vacancy out of 13 judgeships (one nominee pending)
Having replaced five left-leaning judges on the Second Circuit, the Biden Administration has already had a significant impact on the court. However, Justice Maria Araujo Kahn, nominated to replace 81-year-old conservative Jose Cabranes, remains pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee and has a long line of nominees ahead of her to be confirmed.
Connecticut, which saw three Biden appointees hit the bench last year, is one of the worse blue states when it comes to nomineeless vacancies, with two of the eight active judgeships vacant and no nominees on the horizon.
Meanwhile, the district courts in New York are also shortstaffed, with nine vacancies among them. The hardest hit is the Eastern District of New York, which has four vacancies out of sixteen judgeships, The bright side for the White House is that eight of the nine vacancies have nominees pending. The down side is that only three of the nominees are currently on the Senate floor (with one, Anne Nardacci, expected to be confirmed next week). Two of the longer pending nominees, Southern District of New York picks Dale Ho and Jessica Clarke, are currently bottled up in Committee, pending a discharge vote. Three more await hearings.
Third Circuit – 2 vacancies out of 14 judgeships (two nominees pending)
This moderate court currently has one Biden nominee confirmed (Arianna Freeman nominated to replace Judge Theodore McKee) but Judges Thomas Ambro and Brooks Smith don’t have replacements yet although nominees are pending on the Senate floor for both seats and should, if prioritized, be confirmed easily.
Two of the three states covered by the Third Circuit have judicial vacancies. The biggest number are in Pennsylvania, which has seven vacancies, four of which have nominees, the aforementioned four nominee deal. With Democrat John Fetterman replacing Toomey, it is likely that new recommendations will be sent out for the remaining vacancies and they will likely not be confirmed in the next few months.
The District of New Jersey, vacancy-ridden when the Biden Administration came to office, is now down to three seats left to fill. However, none of the three vacancies have nominees pending even though the oldest dates back seven months. With control of the Senate solidified, it is likely that New Jersey will see new district court nominees shortly.
Fourth Circuit – 2 vacancies out of 15 judgeships (one nominee pending)
The Fourth Circuit currently has vacancies out of South Carolina and Maryland. Judge DeAndrea Benjamin, nominated to the South Carolina seat, has home state senator support and will likely be confirmed easily in the new Congress. However, the bigger surprise is that a Maryland vacancy announced last December still lacks a nominee. Maryland’s Democratic senators have a mixed record in the speed of recommendations and a district court vacancy in the state announced last year also lacks a nominee.
In other states, Virginia has two nominees pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee for a final vote. Their confirmations would fill all the remaining vacancies on the state’s district courts.
Additional vacancies exist in North Carolina and South Carolina. Both North Carolina and South Carolina have two Republican senators, so any nominee will largely depend on the White House’s negotiations.
Fifth Circuit – 2 vacancies out of 17 judgeships (one nominees pending)
The ultra-conservative Fifth Circuit became even more so when the youngest Democrat on the Fifth Circuit, Judge Gregg Costa, unexpectedly announced his resignation from the bench. Nine months after Costa’s announcement, there is still no nominee pending to replace him, although Judge Dana Douglas, nominated to replace Octogenarian liberal James Dennis, is poised for confirmation after bipartisan support in the Judiciary Committee.
On the district court level, both Louisiana and Texas have multiple district court vacancies and no hint of any nominee. Mississippi, on the other hand, despite having only one vacancy, does have a nominee: Scott Colom. While Mississippi senators have not yet announced support for Colom, they have not expressed opposition either, suggesting that Colom might be, surprisingly, on track for confirmation.
Sixth Circuit – 1 vacancies out of 16 judgeships (one nominee pending)
Of the three vacancies on the Sixth Circuit that opened in the Biden Administration, only the Ohio based seat of Judge R. Guy Cole remains open. Rachel Bloomekatz, nominated to replace Cole, is awaiting a discharge vote in the Judiciary Committee. It remains to be seen if Sen. Sherrod Brown will push for Bloomekatz to receive a final Senate vote by the end of the year.
On the district court level, each of the four states under the Sixth Circuit have vacancies pending. After the White House’s proposal to nominate conservative lawyer Chad Meredith to the Eastern District of Kentucky fell through, there remains no nominee to replace Judge Karen Caldwell, although Caldwell has reaffirmed that she will only leave the bench if a conservative is appointed to replace her.
The Eastern District of Michigan has four pending vacancies and two nominees (one on the Senate floor). Michigan’s Democratic senators have been relatively slow in naming nominees, so it’s unclear when nominees will hit the Senate for the remaining vacancies.
The Southern District of Ohio has a single vacancy, with a nominee, Jeffery Hopkins, pending a Judiciary Committee vote. With Sen. Rob Portman set to be replaced by J.D. Vance, it is possible that Democrats will prioritize Hopkins in an effort to fill the seat before Vance’s input is needed.
Finally, a vacancy is pending on the Western District of Tennessee. The White House and Tennessee Senators battled over the Sixth Circuit nomination of Andre Mathis, and while the White House ultimately won confirmation, other seats could become casualties. Nonetheless, the White House has put forward U.S. Attorney nominees with senatorial support in the state, suggesting that some common ground can be reached to fill the vacancy.
Seventh Circuit – 2 vacancies out of 11 judgeships (one nominee pending)
In addition to naming Judge Candace Jackson-Akiwumi and Judge John Lee to the Seventh Circuit, Biden has the chance to add two more judges to the court. Judge Doris Pryor, currently pending on the senate floor, is likely to be confirmed before the end of the year. However, the second vacancy, opened by Judge Michael Kanne’s death, lacks a nominee. Given the support Indiana’s Republican Senators gave to Pryor, the White House is likely to grant them deference in turn in cchoosing a nominee to replace Kanne.
On the district court level, Illinois nominees Lindsay Jenkins and Colleen Lawless are pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Northern District of Illinois has two more vacancies that are likely to get nominees shortly.
Meanwhile, three vacancies are pending in Indiana without nominees. It is likely that the White House may lump these nominees into a package with the Kanne seat to allow for all the seats to be filled at once.
Wisconsin is likely a sign of frustration for the White House as Senator Ron Johnson has now blocked both a federal judge nominee and a U.S. Attorney nominee that he previously signed off on. With Johnson’s narrow re-election, it is likely that the nomination of Judge William Pocan is dead, and the White House and senators will have to renegotiate a new nominee to replace Judge William Griesbach.
Eighth Circuit – 0 vacancies out of 11 judgeships
While the Eighth Circuit remains the sole court of appeals not to see a vacancy open under Biden, there are a number of vacancies open in the district courts covered under the Circuit, including one each in Arkansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota, and two pending in Missouri. Of these, only the seat in Minnesota has a nominee (Jerry Blackwell, who is awaiting a floor vote). Of the remaining vacancies, the White House has failed to nominate any U.S. Attorneys in those states, boding poorly for the likelihood of any agreement on judicial nominees.
Ninth Circuit – 1 vacancies out of 29 judgeships (one nominee pending)
Compared to other courts of appeals, the White House has had comparative success in confirming judges to the Ninth Circuit, naming six, with a seventh pending a judiciary committee vote. The district courts covered by the Ninth Circuit were equally successful for the White House, which has already confirmed 19 judges to (compared 14 judges that the Trump Administration named over four years).
An additional 13 nominees are currently pending to fill 19 vacancies, eight in California, four in Washington, and one in Oregon. Of the seats needing nominees, four are in California (two on the Central District and two on the Southern District). Another two are in Alaska and Idaho respectively, which have two Republican senators apiece.
Tenth Circuit – 1 vacancy out of 12 judgeships (one nominee pending)
The Kansas seat vacated by Judge Mary Briscoe is the oldest appellate vacancy in the country. Judge Briscoe announced her move to senior status in January 2021, and a nominee, Jabari Wamble, was announced in August 2022. Wamble has yet to have a Committee hearing but could, in theory, be confirmed early next year.
Among the states covered by the Tenth Circuit, there are eight district court vacancies, out of which two have nominees. Five of the six nomineeless vacancies are in states with two Republican senators, with particularly long-pending vacancies in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Utah, in particular. Given the nomination of Wamble in Kansas and the successful confirmation of Trina Higgins to be U.S. Attorney in Utah, it is possible that the White House is able to reach an agreement with senators to fill the vacancies shortly.
Eleventh Circuit – 1 vacancy out of 12 judgeships (one nominee pending)
Judge Beverly Martin announced her retirement from the Eleventh Circuit in July, ultimately leaving the court in late September. The Biden Administration nominated civil rights attorney Nancy Abudu to the court in December, but then unwittingly delayed Abudu’s hearing by quixotically claiming that she was under Supreme Court consideration. While no serious observer believed that Abudu would be nominated to the Supreme Court, her consideration ensured that Abudu’s nomination would not be processed until a nominee was named. Furthermore, Abudu’s nomination proved deeply controversial and deadlocked in Committee, forcing a discharge vote that has yet to occur. Given the risk to Abudu’s nomination if Warnock were to lose, it is likely that Democrats would seek to prioritize her nomination if the runoff went poorly.
On the district court level, Alabama has two pending vacancies, one from the elevation of Judge Andrew Brasher in the Trump Administration, and the second from Judge Abdul Kallon’s untimely resignation. Both lack nominees as outgoing Republican senator Richard Shelby expressed his opposition to any left-of-center nominee. With Shelby’s retirement and the election of Katie Britt to the Senate, it remains to be seen if a package can be reached (it’s possible that Alabama senators may demand the renomination of Trump nominee Edmund LaCour.
Meanwhile, Florida has more nominee-less vacancies than any other state: six. Both Senator Marco Rubio and Florida’s Democratic House delegation recommended attorney Detra Shaw-Wilder (a Democrat) to the Southern District of Florida last year, but no nominee has hit the Senate yet. The recent announcements of U.S. Attorney nominees to two of the three open positions in Florida, however, could presage a thaw in negotiations over the state’s appointments.
Conclusion
On one side, one could argue that the Senate has plenty of time to fill these vacancies, as well as more that will inevitably open over the next two years. After all, despite a packed legislative calendar, the Senate has already confirmed eighty-five nominees (and will likely confirm more before the end of the Congress). However, it’s also important to recognize the fragility of the Democrat’s narrow majority. Just because 50 members held together over the last two years is no guarantee that it will last another two. In a sense, winning the Georgia runoff and securing a 51st seat will be all the more important for Democrats if they seek to rival Trump’s judicial legacy.
The Vetting Room 
I’m getting a little nervous about some laws the senate really needs to focus on and pass including a full budget, debt ceiling, election reform act and Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. We got 51 seats, we can wait a month for more judges, let’s pass laws before the House session ends.
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I agree Mike. I’m the biggest proponent of getting Biden judges confirmed but I hope next week and/or the 3 days the senate is in session the week after is spent on legislation before the House flips. I hope the SJC holds an executive meeting the first week in January. I don’t see why they would need to do the one week hold over bs for nominees that were already voted on to the floor now that we have 51 senators so hopefully the confirmations can start the second week of January, third week at worst.
Good to see they don’t have to waste the 2 hours to conform Kai Scott. It was about 30 minutes after the cloture vote & the confirmation vote began. Hopefully with 51 senators on the way, Republicans realize every nominee Biden puts forward will be confirmed & continue reducing the post cloture time for circuit court nominees as well.
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Unfortunately, everyone who is awaiting a floor vote will need to be held over once and voted on again. Last year they did get unanimous consent to send Sanchez and Thomas (who both had cloture votes in the vote a rama) right back. Maybe we’ll see that again.
Regarding legislation, my understanding is they are still negotiating the Funding Bill and these confirmations are filling all the otherwise dead floor time.
I do think the defense bill is ready now, so my guess is we’ll see that next week. Not sure what will be up after that, but it sounds like they may keep going right up until Christmas.
I do feel confident that we’ll ultimately get the Defense Bill, Electoral Count Act, Ukraine Aid, and a Spending Bill all done before the end of the month though. Not sure about the other priorities, though.
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My guess is the closer to Christmas they get, the more compromising on time Republicans will get when it comes to legislation. I don’t know if we will get a vote-a-rama on judges this year, maybe legislation instead. 51 gives everybody some breathing room so my guess is after the Douglas & Montgomery votes on Monday, the most excitement on judges we will see the rest of 2022 is Biden’s last batch of nominees. Hopefully Ron Klain ripped up his compromise list of nominees & threw it in the shredder & we will get an exciting batch.
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It’s very possible. I still lean towards there being one to confirm a bunch of the district nominees, but then again I thought there would be one before the August recess and there wasn’t.
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I don’t know how we expect all Republican senators to work in good faith when 28 of them just voted against a 45-year-old White male Republican pick. I truly hope blue slips get ditched in some sort of fashion if not all together in 2023.
(https://twitter.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1600580386480091137?cxt=HHwWgsDTqbPYs7YsAAAA)
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I would be fine with blue slips being reformed, but at what point is it worth it when the Republicans would just end up taking things to the extreme when they regain power? Personally, I don’t think the Biden administration is one to progressively get rid of blue slips.
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Senator Warnock is back & voted for the Hopkins cloture vote. Senator Cruz is out as he went back to Texas because his 14-year-old bi-sexual daughter tried to commit suicide. Despite my opinion of him, I do hope his daughter & their family are ok.
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I agree. It’s terrible and I hope his daughter and his family get some space and are able to heal.
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Montgomery-Reeves and Douglas getting cloture votes for circuit seats tomorrow. I don’t think I’ve seen two circuit votes, even for cloture, on the same day before.
I wonder if that means they’ll both get approved Monday.
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This is what I suggested Schumer should have been doing all along. Vote for cloture for two circuit court nominees on Thursday then confirm both the following Monday. This will be the second time he’s done it, the first time was November 1st last year when the senate confirmed both Beth Robinson & Tony Heytens on the same day.
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Robinson and Heytens were confirmed on the same day. There are other examples that aren’t at the top of my head right now..
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No more cloture motions were sent to the desk today or yesterday. It looks like after Monday’s two circuit court confirmations they will go to legislation. That’s best as we have two years to confirm judges.
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@Dequan so we’re looking at 27 Circuit and 65 district judges in 2 years. 92 is pretty good for a 50/50 senate in 2 years.
I was positive they’d clear through a lot more district judges but it’s fine. I think it’s still possible to get more district confirmations since the House session looks to end next week so if Schumer has them come in for 12/19 – 12/21 they could get another 10 district judges through.
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It’s actually a great if not spectacular feat what Biden, Schumer, Durbin & the Democrats have accomplished in a 50/50 senate. The only thing preventing me from calling it a perfect two years is the middle two DC circuit picks, most of the New Jersey picks & too many bland California picks. But this is still the best overall slate of nominees I’ve seen in the past two lifetimes even if Monday is it for the year.
I was highly critical of Schumer for taking so much time off & especially for the extra two weeks in October. I’m happy it all worked out because had it not, that decision would have been disastrous.
On to 2023 & 2024. Every circuit court judge that retires will be a celebration until we get to 14 additional vacancies & can pass Trump’s 54.
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Look at this stat. After Hopkins is confirmed tomorrow there will be 36 remaining district court nominees. Out of the 36, only TWO will be from a state with at least one Republican senator. William Pocan (Who’s nomination doesn’t seem to be going anywhere) & Scott Colom are the only two. Durbin is really going to have to do some soul searching on blue slips next yar. This trend can’t continue for the next two years.
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I spent Tues night staring at the NYT result page for the Georgia runoff, as it updated in real time, until the blue check mark appeared after 10pm signifying Warnock
won the race..
I’m glad the election is over….And it was quite a successful election for Democrats winning a senate seat, doing very well in governor races winning 3 new seats…..If not for former NY Governor Cuomo, who was terrible at nominating state Supreme Court justices, Democrats may very well have held the House
Now it’s time for governing….While not much will come from the House side with all the non-sensical investigations they’ll likely conduct, the Senate will have ample time to confirm judicial nominees…
Who knows, maybe Schumer will give us a Xmas present and keep senate in session on Fridays and Saturdays til Xmas…….What do you think Dequan ?
Yeah, I think you’re laughing at me now….You and Robert DeNiro. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rm81LSKJC2k
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Haaaaaaa… @Rick I can always count on you for a good laugh… Lol
If the Democrats had lost he damn well better had done what you are joking about. But with two years of 51, they can enjoy their well deserved holiday off.
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Wow, another young Obama appointee resigning early. George Hazel’s name just posted to the US courts future vacancy listing, for Feb 24, 2023. He must have gotten word he’s not getting the Fourth Circuit promotion. Hopefully Cardin and Van Hollen will hurry up with their recommendations.
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I thought Hazel was a lock for the 4th Circuit seat. Guess he didn’t want it?
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WOW… That’s an absolute shocker to me. George Hazel was the youngest federal judge in the country when he was confirmed. He definitely must have had his hopes on the 4th circuit seat & was just told he wasn’t getting it.
There was high hopes for him when confirmed. Unfortunately he has had some constructive rulings which hurt any chances of him getting elevated. Had he been a progressive on the bench, he would have likely been the front runner for the vacancy. I’m very surprised to see him resign at 47 years old but I guess with no hope of being elevated, he would rather make the money in private practice. Best wishes to him. Hopefully with the 4th & two district court vacancies, one of those three seats goes to Ajmel Quereshi.
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It isn’t as big of a surprise when you consider that it is statistically more likely that younger nominees leave the bench than older nominees. Harsh had a great article about it earlier this year. This is yet another example of why age is very overrated by so many commenters on this website. Just because they are young, is not a reason to assume they will stay on longer than someone 20+ years older than them. I think when Hazel was confirmed, nobody here would have thought that David Hurd would still be in active status upon his retirement, but indeed that is going to be the case. Considering that the Maryland senators aren’t especially progressive, I simply don’t think that is the reason Hazel was not promoted.
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It still is statistically more likely judges take senior status than resignation. I know we have seen 4 resignations this year but we have seen dozens more leave the bench after the age of 65. I’ll take my chances on young progressives any day of the week & even when they do resign, they tend to do so with a like minded president as all 4 have done so this year.
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A very welcome relief that he won’t be named to the Fourth Circuit. Maybe Deborah Boardman or a likewise proven liberal might be in the mix.
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Brittney Griner free for an exchange of a Russian arms dealer
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Brittney Griner never should have gone to prison in the first place. Any intelligent person could see that she made an honest and innocent mistake.
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Of course she shouldn’t have. Russia was using her as a pawn. I’m happy she is on her way back home. Hopefully they will be able to get other prisoners back as well.
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Listened to the SJC business meeting. Benjamin, Ballou, Evanson, Joun and Lawless reported out. Edelman held over again, though I didn’t hear a reason.
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I would be upset if Democrats didn’t gain the 51st seat & Edelman was held over because that would set a precedent for the next two years. But with a clear majority less than a month away, it’s fine to play nice & let the Republicans feel like they got a win.
There’s really only two from the six today that have a chance at being confirmed this year anyway even with another vote-a-rama. That’s Benjamin because she’s a Black woman circuit court nominee from South Carolina & Lawless because she’s from Durbin’s home state. They may expedite either or both of them but the others will be confirmed next year.
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The SJC has already put Todd Edelman on the executive calendar for next week Thursday. That gives Democrats the following Monday to Wednesday to confirm him in a vote-a-rama or he will be ready for January.
(https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/12/15/2022/executive-business-meeting)
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No surprise here, but SJC has voted Benjamin and the four district nominees out of committee.
Not sure if Benjamin would get a floor vote before end of the year but I think the district nominees could be candidates if there is another vote a rama at the end of the session.
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That’s interesting on Edelman. Didn’t realize he was held over again. I wonder if they’re waiting on some document or answer to another question. He seems like a pretty straightforward nomination to me.
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Perhaps some judicial nominees leave for private sector for a bigger check from a major law firm..
But when you sign up to be a judge, you know you’re not going to make the big payday as you would from a large law firm or Fortune 100 company…
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@Ben I hadn’t thought to look at the future vacancy section as a measure of who’s planning to take senior status. 1. a lot more Obama judges are lining up to leave next year as soon as they hit their senior eligibility status. 2. Obama nominated a lot of people in their mid and late 50s, which is so short sighted but on the bright side could mean a big refresh of dem judges for the next 2 years.
I’m kind of confused with Ajmel Quereshi name, is he eastern european?
Hmm, 14 Superior Court and another 2 for court of appeals vacancies in DC, Biden should look at filling those up with progressives next year.
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@Mike
That’s spot on. Biden definitely should be using the two local DC court vacancies to put young progressives in those seats. That can set up elevation to lifetime seats in the future in either DC, Maryland or Virginia. He’s already done it twice with Flornce Pan & Todd E. Edelman. Neither of them was young so hopefully he can fill the current vacancies as well as the additional ones that are sure to open up over the next two years with plenty.
On a similar topic, I updated all but two of the judges on both the DC Court of Appeals & Superior Court of DC on Wikipedia. All but two from Obama on now have pictures. There are some without the years they were born. Does anybody know where I can find that out at so I can update that as well?
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Thanks for doing that Dequan!
I regularly check out that wiki judge data since I’m a big fan of seeing this stuff from a clearly defined numerical perspective and really appreciate how easy to read all that is.
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You’re very welcome. I as well as the other users enjoy updating the nominees profiles. And I just found out how to find out their birth years so I’ll be updating those without one over the next day or so.
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Wonder what game plan is for senate next week…The Montgomery vote is scheduled for Mon, and that’s it…Will that be only vote for week, any others ?
Hey Dequan, forget about working weekends, the senate doesn’t even stay late on a Thursday anymore…
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No way Rick. They have a 3 day work week… Lol
I think after Montgomery & Douglas next week, that will be it for judges next week. They have too much legislation to work on. Schumer hasn’t sent any cloture motions to the desk so even if he did on Monday, the earliest they could start voting on them would be Wednesday. Hopefully they at least vote for cloture on two more circuit court judges next week Thursday to set them up to be confirmed the following Monday.
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Unfortunate since Chung is replacing a Reagan judge. You’d think they would wanna flip circuit seats but guess not with any urgency. Also no reason to just vote on Montgomery on Monday. They should get Douglas done with and vote on her on Monday as well.
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Unfortunately they have been doing only one vote on Monday’s lately. Perhaps now that the midterms are over they will confirm both but they usually announce it in advance. They only announced Montgomery today.
Their normal Monday schedule is come in at 3:30pm, have speeches, vote at 5:30pm, they take two hours to vote & then adjourn before 8pm. Now you ask why it takes so long for one vote? Only God knows because I sure as Hell can’t figure it out.
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The House voted on the defense bill today (and it passed overwhelmingly) so I suspect that will be second half of next week in the senate.
I’d love to see Brad Garcia and Cindy Chung get votes still. That would match Trumps first two years. And of course another bunch of district votes (including Clarke and Vera especially). We will see
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Since election day a little over a month ago there have been five judges that have announced they are leaving the bench. I hope that pace continues throughout 2023.
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I suspect there will be quite a bit over the next few months.
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I remember some Republicans were complaining President Biden signed KBJ commission before Justice Breyer’s tenure ended. Look what I found…
8th circuit court judge Roger Leland Wollman officially assumed senior status on December 14, 2018. His replacement Jonathan A. Kobes commission shows he started on December 12, 2018. So I don’t want to hear a word out of their mouth’s.
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Maybe you’ve already heard this, but Kyrsten Sinema has left the Democratic Party. She’s an Independent now.
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Very frustrating how she always has to somehow be the center of attention. I suspect this is mostly about scaring off any primary challengers (specifically Ruben Gallego).
For whatever her word is worth, she says she intends to caucus with the Dems and vote the same way she has been, but we will see if that holds up come January.
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I’ll say what I’ve said numerous times on this site. The scariest thing about Sinema to me is if she decides to run third party in 2024 if Ruben Gallego defeats her in a primary. If she loses & bows out, good riddance. But we must keep in mind her running a third party or write in campaign is in the cards. I truly hope she doesn’t do that but I don’t know.
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I agree Dequan. If she plans on leaving the senate then no big deal, we nominate Gallego and move on. If she insists on running she will probably split the Dem base (or at least peel off the McCain Republicans that voted for her and Mark Kelly) and throw the race to a GOP candidate.
Very frustrating for sure and truthfully she probably should’ve done the exact opposite given how much better than her Mark Kelly did (twice) in worse environments.
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@Joe
“If she plans on leaving the senate then no big deal.”
Sorry to dash cold water on this bit of optimism but that’s not what’s happening. You wouldn’t switch if you plan on leaving. You switch because you don’t think that you could won a primary. Simple.
This is Arlen Specter all over again.
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She is NOT caucusing with the Democrats. She did say that she will take the same approach when it comes to confirming Biden’s nominees.
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She said she expects to keep her committee chairs and is backing Schumer as majority leader so she is still caucusing with the Democrats, just an indie.
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What an arrogant, vindictive, self serving POS sinema is, truly disgusting human being.
she waited for dems to win the Georgia race to pull this stunt and attract attention to her because she knows she was a loser in the primaries. We cant give in to this political blackmail and extortion, gallego or any other democrat should run and field a strong challenge against her regardless of which party, i rather doug ducey or mark brnovich wins the seat in 2024 than seeing her smug arrogant self dealing self cruz to re election with no accountability for her years of destruction.
Yes i will say it i rather a republican win than sinema winning in 2024, this is pure extortion
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@aangren Be careful, you sound like her best friend on here lol. JK.
I know a lot of people on here have their hopes on Ruben Gallego. But I am dubious. Not sure he would want to challenge her, despite his online taunts. More importantly, I am not sure that such a progressive could win against Sinema AND a Republican in Arizona.
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We all have access to the same information but we’re interpreting it differently? Frank is correct. Whether or not she changes her mind later is unknowable, but at the moment, Sinema said she will NOT be caucusing with Dems. This is plain as day in her statement. Her committee assignments isn’t a feature of what party she caucuses with in this case (people have this misconception that you have to caucus with a party to get committee assignments). Her chairing the committees is a different issue, though.
I might write more about how I feel about her actual move later. Suffice it to say, this isn’t a power move by her; it’s the only electoral avenue that still gives her a chance for reelection.
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I haven’t seen where she said is caucusing with Republicans.
She has to pick one or the other.
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She doesn’t have to caucus with either party.
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If she doesnt caucus with either parties, its 50-49-1 does that mean we still can pass nominees without tie votes in committees?
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Correct. Tie votes will still become quite rare.
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Testing testing…
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I’ve been trying to post a comment for a while now but it’s not going through. Maybe it’s the double links that’s stopping it? I will try again or post them separately.
She’s guaranteed seats on at least two committees. For more assignments, she can negotiate with either party (preferably the Dems).
She does NOT have to pick one or the other:
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RL/RL30743
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RULE XXV:
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CDOC-113sdoc18/pdf/CDOC-113sdoc18.pdf#page=24
…
@aangren — 50-49-1 without her caucusing with the Rs is still a *plurality for Dems, so it’ll be up to Dems to organize the senate (so yea, without a power-sharing deal).
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That means it would be 49-50-1 for the remainder of this year, which would complicate Schumer’s abilities to pass legislation or really to do anything until the Democrats gain a seat in January 2023.
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I assume Sinema is caucusing with the Dems for now because Schumer’s still majority leader. If Sinema stopped caucusing with the Dems, McConnell would be majority leader for 25 days.
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I guess I misread the article initially. She only said she is NOT caucusing with the Republicans, so the senate will be 50-49-1 like aangren said.
I may be wrong, but I do think this still means that Dems will full control of committees just like they would under a 51-49 setup. But things may change.
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I’m pissed, this one stings. Absolute betrayal and extortion. If a democrat cant win against her in the general election, i will actively support the republican and donate to his campaign, this is pure blackmail, its vile and evil. What pains me most is she did this after warnock won a huge victory and democrats were basking in the joy. She is a vindictive , arrogant and petulant child and i dont know about you guys but give me a doug ducey or brnovich over sinema, an unscrupulous hack.
There should be a rule that you cant change party ID until your term is up.
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@aangren
I know how you feel, especially as one her 2018 small dollar donors who were happy to see her kick McSally out. Betrayed.
“There should be a rule that you cant change party ID until your term is up”
On first blush I’d say that this rule would be summarily struck down on a prima facie challenge. But but but, the more than a preponderance of caselaw suggests that this would be ruled a political question that isn’t justiciable, thus left in place. So maybe you’re on to something.
These are not the hypotheticals I thought I’d be working through on a Friday after the confirmation of a 51 Dem senate!
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Honestly it’s better for her to have waited for after Warnock’s win. Had she announced she would not caucus with either party a week ago, then Warnock’s seat would determine senate control, the senate race would be a lot more stressful, & Republicans might be more motivated to turn out for Walker if they had a chance of taking the Senate.
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It is strange that, even in the era of Trump and pretty substantial R losses, that no one has moved the other way and become a Democrat.
Of the federal offices and governorships, you have Jeff Van Drew, Jim Justice, and Tulsi Gabbard moving to become Republicans. Sinema is now an Independent. Justin Amash is a Libertarian now I guess. But no one that’s outright moved to the left.
Schumer and Biden now has a very interesting decision to make as far as supporting Sinema in 2024 or pushing for a true Democratic nominee. If they push too hard for Gallego then they risk losing a vote in the senate but if they accede to Sinema then they risk this becoming a long term headache.
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“Sinema told The Arizona Republic that she plans to caucus with Democrats for committee seat purposelike Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.”
(https://www.yahoo.com/news/why-did-sinema-ditch-democrats-140456112.html)
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We’ll have to wait for a bit more than what’s said.
Sanders doesn’t just caucus with the Dems. He and the Democratic Party have a legal contract that governors how he runs for reelections. This agreement also stipulates how he votes on certain procedural motions in the senate. All this in exchange for Dems not fielding a Dem candidate against him. I highly doubt that Sinema would be given that same consideration.
Much of the Dem caucus relationship with Sinema will also be based on a consensus of the 50 Dems and how much they want to accommodate her, as opposed to just a Schumer call.
Again, there’s a lot about this for us to yet learn.
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I think in point of fact the Senate will be 48-50-3, with all the independents caucusing with the Dems.
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You mean 48-49-3, since the GOP is losing a seat.
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Right you are @Frank
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I’ve been defending Sinema here in Arizona for years, this is so frustrating!
If she runs for reelection, the AZ Dem party will have no choice but to have a primary for a Dem candidate because she’s so disliked and this is such an insult to the party. The problem is the WORST election denying candidates here still got 47%.
I like Ruben but he’s too progressive for Arizona, we’re not a blue state we’re just filled with a ton of McCain republicans who hate MAGA. That’s why if we had to primary her Greg Stanton would be the safer bet.
Ruben would probably lose a general election which is why I supported keeping Sinema, rather have a D vote for nominees and bipartisan bills than GOP controlling the senate and nothing getting done but a 3 way race guarantees a GOP win.
If we’re lucky it’s a conservative Republican like Ducey or Brnovich, if we’re not then Kari Lake. No matter who it is, ANY republican will win in a 3 way race.
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Schumer said Sienma will keep committee assignments:
“Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) on Friday announced he will let Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-VGT) keep her Senate committee assignments after she dropped her affiliation with the Democratic Party and said she would identify as an independent, The Hill reports”
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Here’s my thoughts on Sinema switching to an Independent. First off, it sucks. Let’s just get that out of the way.
However, there are several ways this could play out. The worst-case scenario is of course in 2024 Arizona has a Democrat, Republican & Sinema running for the US senate. As @Mike said above, ANY Republican wins in a 3-way race.
The best-case scenario would of course be Sinema uses her fame to ride off into the political sunset & go into the private sector to make more money. Perhaps write a book or work for any number of firms.
Now here’s a scenario that I think is in the middle of both of the two above. Perhaps Sinema uses the party change & no threat of a primary to become a better senator. To be honest, if she would just stop it with the over-the-top antics, the only policy opposition I have with her is her opposition to ending the filibuster. She votes with Biden 100% on MY most important issue which is federal judges & votes with Biden more then 90% overall. Her circuit court nominee to the 9th was one of the better of Biden’s 37 so far.
If she uses this newfound independence to continue to push progressive policies while simultaneously working with Republicans to get legislation passed, I think she could have an effective 2 years. She will never be another John McCain like she attains to be, but perhaps her pursuit of that goal can be used for good.
The reality is the 2024 map is going to be rough for Democrats regardless. If Biden can have a positive next 2 years, combined with Trump being Trump & screw up a couple winnable Republican senate races, Democrats may pull off another surprise. Arizona may very well work its way out in the end. I don’t think very highly of Sinema, but I do hope she doesn’t want to take the party down in 2024 & will do whatever is best over the next 2 years to make sure her seat remains in Democrats hands no matter if it’s with her or somebody else in it.
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We now have six vacancies added since the midterms.
(https://twitter.com/VettingRoom/status/1601192748182253569?cxt=HHwWgsCtxcWUyrgsAAAA)
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If Arizona had ranked-choice voting that could stop the primary headache. If I were an Arizona voter and Arizona used RCV, I would be comfortable ranking Sinema second after Ruben Gallego or whoever the top liberal Democrat is.
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At some point you have to refuse to accept blackmail and extortion. What sinema is doing is pointing a loaded gun at the democrats head and threatening to shoot. Just on principle alone i detest that. We are already likely to lose the senate, i say go down swinging with gallego or any other solid dem nominee. I will sleep better at night with a doug ducey in this seat in 24 worst case than this extortionist.
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I tend to agree. Nominate Gallego, let Sinema see that she’s going to get like 10% of the vote, and hope she can be convinced to drop out.
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Thought this was an interesting article about how young conservatives are looking to advance even further in the legal system to achieve their political goals: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/12/09/revolutionary-conservative-legal-philosophy-courts-00069201
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Interesting article. But what’s called Common Good Constitutionalism hasn’t been embraced by the right, at least not yet. It’s just now being introduced. I don’t expect it’ll go beyond some of those seminars.
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Expecting to see some judicial nominees this week, especially for the 1st and 4th Circuit vacancies.
As for the vacancy on the 7th, Magistrate judge Mario Garcia is honestly my front runner for this seat given that he would be the first Latino on the 7th Circuit and has a background as a public/federal defender.
Would be a good choice to flip the seat of a very conservative jurist.
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I completely agree @Zack Jones. Tomorrow marks 100 days since September 3rd, far too long for only one new nominee. I suspect with George Hayes resigning, he was informed he will not be the 4th circuit nominee. That should mean we get the nominee who was chosen in fairly short order.
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I found an article which has biographical information about Mario Garcia.
https://www.wrtv.com/news/hispanic-heritage/hoosier-making-history-as-first-hispanic-federal-magistrate-judge-in-southern-district-of-indiana
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I do wonder in a couple of cases if some judges we see resigning now or in the future are doing so because of the current Supreme Court which has made clear to everyone they are nothing but a rubber stamp for the far right and don’t want to be a part of that.
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@Mitch
Good article on Mario Garcia. It would be pleasant to see him he the pick.
@Zack Jones
Idk if the SCOTUS alone is a reason we are seeing the resignations. A probably the combination of several factors. If I had to guess, money would be a reason I’m each of the resignations. Perhaps Costa felt that way slightly, especially since his own circuit was even more conservative than the SCOTUS but I have read he really had a passion for being an advocate. Throw in him probably figuring he had no chance at being elevated as a White man & he decided to go where both the money & his passion led him.
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@Dequan
Indiana’s Senators have worked in good faith with the Biden Administration. If Garcia is being considered, I can see the Senators making a counter-offer. They might propose nominating District Judge Damon Leichty, an uncontroversial Democrat who’d been recommended by Joe Donnelly, as the Circuit nominee and nominating Mario Garcia as a District Judge.
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Uuuggghhh… That deal would suck… Lol
I’m fine with working with senators that work in good faith but at the end of the day Biden won the presidency & Democrats increased their majority against all odds in the midterms. We shouldn’t be giving away the farm just because they worked in good faith.
I do believe they should work out a package deal to fill all of the district court vacancies in the state however. Hopefully the administration leverages the circuit court vacancy to negotiate filling all of the seats.
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At least the Garcia for Leichty part of the bargain wouldn’t work because Garcia is a magistrate judge in SDIN and Leichty is a judge in NDIN – I’ve never heard or magistrate judges moving districts for elevation. Garcia could in theory be elevated to the current vacancy in SDIN left by Richard Young going senior, but that seat is the only seat based in Evansville whereas Garcia is in Indianapolis.
Leichty would be disappointing but not unexpected – my guess is that the Indiana senators will argue that Kanne’s successor should be from NDIN in no small part to (1) drag the process out, and (2) there are no even medium-sized cities in NDIN so probably fewer well-credentialed liberals. I’d bet the senators are much less accommodating on this seat because it would be a liberal replacing a hard-right conservative (Kanne) whereas Pryor for Hamilton was a liberal replacing a liberal. Also, Garcia’s resume is more progressive than Pryor’s since he was never an AUSA and did more criminal defense work than she ever did.
Biden should stand firm and nominate someone with a proven progressive record (whether Garcia or someone else) given that Dems have a real majority now. Then again this is the guy who almost nominated Chad Meredith to do McConnell a “favor” for nothing in return, so I’m not expecting much.
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The name Chad Meredith still sends chills up my spine. I will say now the new White House Counsel’s office should be well in place now that Dana Remus has been gone for a while now & have their footing settled so hopefully no more crap deals like that. And with 51 Dems a few weeks away, I hope we see them pivot away from crappy deals.
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@Dequan, @Mitch.
A more realistic compromise nominee might be David Hollar, the Appellate Chief for the US Attorney’s office for the Northern District of Indiana. He clerked for Judge Diane Wood. Nothing about him screams progressive or conservative. https://www.luc.edu/law/faculty/facultyandadministrationprofiles/hollar-david.shtml
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David Hollar would be an acceptable 7th circuit nominee if it was part of a package deal to fill all of the district court vacancies & they all were Democrats. If the senators insist on some sort of 2 for one or 3 for 1 type deal, they Biden should shove a young progressive onto the 7th. But Hollar is acceptable if it gets 3 Democrats onto the district court vacancies then it’s a good deal.
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Good idea Dequan. Our ability to unilaterally fill circuit vacancies is our biggest bargaining chip, we should definitely wield it and get those District seats filled as much as possible.
Like others, I do expect to get some nominees sometime this week. Wednesday is likely 28 days from the first SJC hearing of the year, so it makes sense.
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Exactly. The administration should use a 30 year old ultra liberal for each red state circuit court vacancy that has district court vacancies in the state. Then work their way down from that starting point.
On another note, the government shuts down Friday without a deal made by Congress. I would guess after Montgomery & Douglas are confirmed, that will be it for judges this week. Hopefully Schumer tees up some more nominees for confirmation in the three days they work next week before recess.
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Yes, I suspect the rest of this week with be TMR/Douglas, then Defense Bill, then a 7-10 day funding bill.
Next week will probably be year long Funding bill and then some more judges before recess. If there is a vote a Rama I really hope Vera and Clarke are included because both have waited over a year for confirmation.
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As Hank said, I’m not expecting as much good faith efforts with the second 7th Circuit vacancy as with Pryor because it’s a flip of a very conservative court judge with someone who won’t be and while it won’t flip control, conservatives won’t be happy with that.
I could see Biden & company being happy with Zachary Myers or Mario Garcia but I can’t see where Damon Leichty will ever be an option.
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I actually hope the senators do NOT work in good faith for this vacancy. As I’ve said before I thought it was genius for (According to her SJC questionnaire) the senators to reach out to Pryor for the vacancy. They knew with her being a Black woman who was a former federal defender, she would be an attractive pick for the administration. They saw what happened in Ohio & Tennessee when the Republican senator doesn’t try to heed off a more liberal nominee with a reasonable pick acceptable to both sides.
I honestly don’t know why more Republican senators don’t mirror what the Indiana senators did. The first Black woman circuit court judge from Indiana could have very well been Jessica Eglin had they not offered up Doris Pryor. I would have been perfectly fine with VP Harris breaking a 50-50 tie vote for Eglin over a 60–31 vote for Pryor so I for one hope the senators do over play their hand & not work in good faith. But they seem to be much smarter than many of their colleagues so in all likelihood they will play ball.
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@Dequan
The Senators did do something like that in Tennessee. A state judge named Camille McMullin was similar in profile to Doris Pryor, a black woman Democrat but not considered very partisan or ideological. McMullin made a good impression on the Senators, who were willing to back her. But the Biden Administration chose Andre Mathis, and a series of mistakes nearly sank Mathis’s nomination.
There is a District Court vacancy in Western Tennessee and I could see McMullin being nominated if she were interested.
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There is a vast difference between Camille McMullin & Doris Pryor. I would argue the Tennessee senators didn’t act in good faith at all with that pick. First off Camille McMullin is about a decade older than Pryor & almost a decade & a half older than Mathis.
Second, McMullin has nothing progressive in her background. Pryor was at least a former federal defender (Albeit for less than 2 years) & Mathis did pro bono work for the Innocence Project.
I would barely accept McMullin for one of the district court vacancies but would be willing to compromise on her there. But no way for a circuit court seat. No reason why Trump gets to put conservatives in their 40’s on the bench in blue seats while we settle for moderates in their 60’s. There was nothing good faithed about Camille McMullin.
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I have no love lost for Blackburn or Hagerty, but isn’t McMullen 51? From what I can tell, she got her undergrad degree in 1993, which suggests she was born in 1971 – that would make her 9 years older than Mathis and 6 years older than Pryor. I definitely prefer Mathis, but hard to argue that the TN senators didn’t submit her name in good faith – most of Obama’s nominations were former AUSAs or big law partners with a minimal proven progressive record, and I’d say the same thing about Wamble for the 10th, Benjamin for the 4th, and Jenkins for NDIL. But the administration has no obligation to go along with a nomination just because Republican senators submit an acceptable name – my bet is that Mathis had someone pushing for him instead of McMullen (maybe Steve Cohen, the Democratic rep for Memphis in the house), whereas Andre Carson (the Democratic rep for Indianapolis) backed Pryor.
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Andre Mathis SJC questionnaires said Rep. Steve Cohen reached out to him about the vacancy. Of course we all know both Benjamin & Wamble have family ties. But each of them still have a more progressive background. Even Jenkins for NDIL investigated Chicago police practices.
If I were the administration I would call the senators bluff & say they will be willing to nominate McMullin to one of the district court vacancies. Something tells me there “good faith” will all of a something run out & they wouldn’t agree to that deal.
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Makes sense that the administration went for Cohen’s preferred candidate over Blackburn/Hagerty’s – besides, Mathis‘s background isn’t even that controversial or progressive anyways compared to Biden’s other nominees (after all, John Kennedy voted for him). And of course the TN senators won’t approve nominating McMullen to the district court when they can just hold the vacancy for the next Republican president by withholding blue slips. While McMullen would’ve been a nominee I could live with (and at least wouldn’t have been a nepotism pick, though I would do a deep dive into her record on the TN state courts to see if she was a law-and-order type), abolishing blue slips to put her on the district court hardly seems worthwhile – especially when we’d have to pay for it later with more Fed Soc ideologues on blue state district courts. Red state district courts are more hassle to fill than they’re worth, especially when there are appellate and blue state district court vacancies to fill.
The better test of whether Blackburn/Hagerty are acting in good faith is if they propose McMullen to fill a vacancy by Gibbons (who, despite being a moderate, is unlikely to go senior this administration given her and her family’s involvement in Republican politics) or Stranch (likely to go senior since she’s a liberal, but the seat would probably go to someone in the Nashville area). I could see them being OK with her replacing Stranch but not Gibbons, as that would leave all three of TN’s 6th circuit seats filled by liberals.
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Camille McMullin would have been the type of deal you take if blue slips were still in play.
They aren’t anymore and sans a couple of cases (I understand why Beth Robinson was nominated) nominees for Circuit Courts in their mid to late 50’s should be a no go.
Florence Pan/Michelle Childs etc. need to be the last ones we see.
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More on David Hollar. https://chestertontribune.com/previous-articles/Northwest%20Indiana/valpo_native_dave_hollar_named_u.htm
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Is this it for Tues ? ? ? ? ?
https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/12/13/2022/nominations
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Update, they added more….When I first looked, there were only 2 nominees scheduled
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What the HELL… For the second straight SJC hearing no Jabari Wamble. And only FOUR nominees… Because I damn sure ain’t counting the Director of putting mustard on hot dogs or whoever that fifth guy is… I know they got two more years to confirm judges but at this rate we will never pass Trump’s 230…smh
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The full list of judicial nominees that will be heard tomorrow.
One has to wonder if something popped up on Wamble’s background check that Durbin and others don’t like?
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At first I thought maybe they are holding off on Wamble for another hearing because the ABA hasn’t rated him yet. I just checked & while they haven’t given him a rating yet, they haven’t given Gordon Gallagher a rating yet either & he’s in tomorrow hearing.
(https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/government_affairs_office/webratingchart-117.pdf)
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Either the WH nor SJC wait for the ABA rating. If the ABA’s rating comes out before or in time for a hearing, so be it. But one’s waiting anymore.
Again, I don’t know what to make of Wamble’s exclusion. I doubt it’s anything that was recently revealed.
This one is a head scratcher.
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Look for Casey Pitts to get some hostile questions.
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Amazing how little they care about flipping circuit seats
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Mitch McConnell must be laughing his ass off. Two consecutive SJC hearings with no circuit court nominees even though we had one pending for both hearings. Not that it would have happened but had it happened while he was majority leader, he would have probably personally walked over to the hearing, stopped it & made them continue the next day with the circuit court nominee.
With two more years on the majority it obviously won’t matter in the end because Wamble will be confirmed. It just shows a lack of urgency. It took almost a year & a half to get a nominee announced & by the time he gets a hearing it will be another half year gone by on top of it. I truly miss Al Fraken in the SJC. He was the most passionate SJC member on the Democrat side I’ve seen in two decades. I don’t know who will replace Leahy but I hope it’s somebody in that mold.
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What’s taking the ABA so long?
At this point are Wamble and Colom (and Pocan I guess) the only nominees who won’t have had hearings?
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After tomorrow, the nominees needing here are as followed;
Jabari Wamble
William Pocan (Would need blue slip turned in by senator Johnson)
Jorge Rodriguez (Would need judge Hurd to retire for a second time or be nominated to the other open NY district court seat).
Orelia Merchant
Charnelle Marie Bjelkengren
Scott Colom
Hopefully we get some new nominees this week to add to that list.
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Tamika R. Montgomery-Reeves confirmed 53-35 with GOP voting yes: Blunt, Burr, Collins, Cornyn, Graham, Murkowski, Portman and Rounds.
I know I shouldn’t but any time I see this many republicans vote for a judicial nominee, I worry they’re like secretly conservative and we just don’t know it yet.
I kind of hate how paranoid the Trump years have made me regarding judges.
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12 Senators didn’t vote. I wonder why?
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Because it’s Monday & them showing up to work today would mean they had to work a full three days this week. Now they can just work two days… Lol
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I don’t have any more information than anybody else here, but I’m wondering if the KS senators are to blame for the delay on Wamble – maybe they keep wanting more time to decide whether they’ll return their blue slips. Otherwise Durbin has been pretty good about scheduling circuit nominees (even those that didn’t get blue slips like Mathis, Freeman, and Bloomekatz).
I can understand the thinking that getting blue slips returned is worth the delay in the hearing, as he seems like someone Collins/Murk/Graham would vote for (but those three have been no’s on anyone without both blue slips) and it’s easier to schedule cloture/roll call when there’s more room for error (nobody is wants a repeat of Freeman needing to be voted on twice). But at the same time, after a while it becomes obvious that the KS senators are just stalling, and it’s not like Dems will lack the votes to confirm anyways (even if scheduling a vote that needs all 50/51 Dems is more of a pain).
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I appreciate this because it’s close to my thinking. Maybe they are not trying to blue slip the nominee, just holding out for more time for whatever reason. Again, this is all speculation, but it’s not like we have much to go off.
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It also could be Wamble is working on a major case & perhaps he doesn’t want to start his judgeship until it is completed. So they are not expediting him since they know even if he is confirmed, he will not be ready to get his commission for a while.
Roopali Desai was confirmed August 4th but did not receive her commission until October 3rd. Perhaps they are trying to avoid a similar gap with Wamble but that’s just speculation on my part.
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This is truly enraging and sickening, this clowns are never serious , there is no excuse for wamble not to have been included in this hearing whatsoever, no reason other than the utter cowardice of the biden administration and the dick durbin. For Gods sake, roger marshall is a right wing lunatic who will never work in good faith with this administration, he is a far right activist and its clear they are just stalling this seat for as long as they can. its sickening the double standards, trump didnt do this. He was one of the senators who signed the amicus brief in texas v Pennsylvania to contest biden election, he was all in the big lie distortions t he voted to throw away arizona and pennsylvania electoral votes.
This is the scum bag and the piece of shit the biden admin is working in ”good faith” with, when they are just stalling as much as they can.
Why cant these clowns treat GOP senators with little to no deference as trump did? They shoved partisan hacks like bumatay and kenneth lee with no care in the world for democratic senators wishes, but yet cant apply the same standard to the GOP? Its infuriating
The fact that we are still talking about blue slips for circuit court picks and speculating whether its a result of one of the senators he wasn’t included just shows you how seriousness the biden administration is. Bunch of clowns, im pissed because biden has barely nominated any black men to appellate courts, the absolute minimum is to ensure they get a hearing and especially not giving deference to racists electon denying scumbag hacks like roger marshall. This is a gut punch.
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@aangren
No lies detected. With one Black man confirmed to any circuit court in the last 2,255 days, any Black man nominated for the next two years should be expedited.
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Agree with Dequan that Wamble is most likely wrapping up some cases.
That or something came in a background check.
With the upcoming outright majority Democrats will have, whether Kansas Republicans have returned their blue slips or not shouldn’t be an issue here, as Durbin has shown he’s not concerned with them in regards to Circuit court seats.
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“Agree with Dequan that Wamble is most likely wrapping up some cases.”
Not how it works, sorry. From the moment you are an announced nominee for a federal judgeship, you do not take on any additional cases.
Post-confirmation disposition of existing case load is normal, but pre-confirmation hearing isn’t.
If you really want to start and finish up a case, you’d ask the president to hold off making the announcement, not delay your SJC hearing.
I know we are all grasping for an explanation, but this isn’t it.
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I agree with this, lets be honest and speak plainly, stop trying to grasp or imagine some exceptional reason why he isn’t on the hearing list aside from the clear and obvious reason staring us in the face which is cowardice by the biden admin not wanting to hurt racist scumbag and election denying senator marshall feelings, that’s what at its core i truly believe this is, its bad faith nonsense by two red state senators and biden being too much of a coward to disregard their views as trump consistently did over his term and put him up regardless.
There is no excuse for this.
Remember this clowns still haven’t announced a nominee to the open 5th circuit court vacancy thinking unwisely that they can work in good faith with republican right wing senators whose only interest are in stalling and finding the closest thing to a right wing hack they can get.
biden is a coward and so is dick durbin that’s the core of the issue, they care more about feelings and the whining from the gop senators than filling circuit seats.
This clowns would have left several appellate vacancies open if not for holding the senate.
They are that incompetent and unserious. Stop overlooking the obvious answer staring us in the face which is obstruction by the KS senators in the guise of ”working in good faith” aka find the most right wing person a dem president can stomach nominating.
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